Meaning
Lip besides its literal sense (Isa 37:29, etc.), is used in the original (saphah) metaphorically for an edge or border, as of a cup (1Kings 7:26), a garment (Ex 28:32), a curtain (26:4), the sea (Gen 22:17), the Jordan (2Kings 2:13). To "open the lips" is to begin to speak (Job 11:5); to "refrain the lips" is to keep silence (Ps 40:9; 1Pet 3:10). The "fruit of the lips" (Heb 13:15) is praise, and the "calves of the lips" thank-offerings (Hos 14:2). To "shoot out the lip" is to manifest scorn and defiance (Ps 22:7). Many similar forms of expression are found in Scripture.
